Carter Arvon
Carter Arvon is the current leader of the Black Hawk Trading Company. Carter is a slightly older man in his early fifties who while not out of shape is not the man he once was. Standing just over 6 feet tall and around 180lbs. Carter was born and raised in Kareldir and move to Port Brask as a young man. When Carter moved it was out of a desire for wealth and in his younger days he was motivated by greed to become a wealthy and powerful man. It was at this time he met two of the major influences on his life for years to come. His mentor Obom Rog, and his future rival Henri LaFleur. However when they first met they became fast friends, they both wanted more from life then what they had and were willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve these goals. Obom on the other had was an older gentlemen who worked for the Black Hawk Trading Company as Vice President and head of the Lindelt trade route. Obom was a soft spoken man who wanted Carter to live a quiter and more peaceful life. While Carter respected Obom he still believed that the best way to survive the world was to fight through it and fight he did. While working with Obom he would often get into fights with both customers, coworkers, and even random bar fights when they would be in towns, and when he would be together with Henri it would only be worse. On several occasions the couple found themselves waking in the local town guards cells or in a gutter on the side of the road. But through everything they remained close friends. As Carter and Henri grew older so did their power, while Carter with the help of Obom was able to advance in the Black Hawk Company Henri found himself working on smaller more local jobs. Some of which were morally questionable to say the least. But even he had lines and would only do jobs where their would be no casualties, and would never harm women or children. However something happened one day and Henri came to Carter different, crueler. Although he never knew what happened to his friend, Carter knew that this was not the same Henri he had know for years. Henri wanted to move up in the world and to do so he needed more power, and the best way to gain it in his eyes was through force. Because of his relation with Obom and the Black Hawks Henri wanted Carters help to attack the caravan steal their goods and establish their own trading company using the already defined route. While Carter was hesitant at first he eventually decided to help Henri being promised power and wealth for his compensation. Carter did not however know the lengths at which Henri planned to go, while Carter expected them to knock out the guards and steal the goods, simply scaring the caravan Henri had a different plan. Once they ambushed the cart with Carter's help Henri and the group he was working with ruthlessly murdered the entire caravan including a women and her young child who were traveling with the group for their protection, and Carter's mentor Obom. Carter was shocked and appalled by this turn of events and wasn't sure what to do. While he had fought people in the past he had never seen someone die and had a tremendous time coping with the loss of his mentor. While he wanted to tell the local guard he new it would do no good, there was no real evidence to indite Henri, and he wasn't sure if the guard could be trusted at all. Carter knew there was only one chance to write the wrong that had been done. Carter went to the leader of the Black Hawks and told him what had happened. While he half expected to be executed immediately he was shown mercy but in return he was asked to help and write the wrongs he had committed. The leader of the company asked Carter to help them catch Henri by feeding false information and leading him into a trap. Carter did as he was asked and told Henri the guild would be moving a large shipment to make up for lost goods. While this was not incorrect it was not the entire truth. When Henri's group went to ambush the caravan the guards were able to counter the attack and kill the attackers. With the exception of Henri who was able to escape the ambush and survive the attack. After this point the two's relationship was destroyed. While Henri would go on to establish his empire and proclaim himself Baron, Carter took a softer approach. After being forgiven for his mistakes he eventually made his way up the ladder until he became the head of the Black Hawks. While under his guidance the Black Hawks grew rapidly, they opened up several new trade routs and nearly double the number of ships under their control. Carter also made it a point to take a hands on approach to running the business. He would often travel with Caravans and work in person to open new trade routes and establish new relationships. During his travels Carter has been to almost every major city in Esai. These include being one of the few people to ever be granted entrance to Gnomeandy, touring Barros Union, and dining in Ani's royal place among others. Carter is also one of the few people in the world to have a magical artifact. He has a ring that allows him to understand any spoken language. During one of his travels he met a young goliath by name of Valig Iron-fist Gunthopenstinier. Valig had recently been robbed of most of his possessions, and was wondering the country side. After talking to the young man for a while Carter found that he was from Thunukalagi and had recently left home to be a traveling merchant. Carter talked to Valig and told him about the trading company, and the merchants guild. After traveling for the next several days to Port Bliss Carter offered to help teach Valig about how to better be a merchant and the ways of his business. Valig traveled with Carter for the next several years and became somewhat of an apprentice and a close friend. After several years and many lessons learned Valig decided to move on and become an independent merchant. With the understanding that if he every so desired he could come back to work with the company he would be welcomed with open arms. Category:NPCs